Computers Stink

Contents......Page 3 1. Introduction......Page 7 2. A Computer User's Bill of Rights......Page 17 Electronic Troubles......Page 20 A Beginner’s Guide to Backup......Page 21 The Invisible World: Directory or Hiding Place?......Page 22 Most Programs Are Only Half Finished......Page 23 UNIX......Page 24 Windows 95, or... Computers Still Stink......Page 25 What Is Human Factors Engineering?......Page 26 Communication Burden:......Page 27 The Machine Makes You a Machine......Page 28 Few User Interface Designers......Page 29 Form Follows Function?......Page 30 Most Development Starts Over Again from the Beginning......Page 31 Bad Design......Page 32 Notorious Screwups Award: Secret Mouse Button......Page 33 Developer’s Indifference......Page 34 Paranoia? Mistaking Secrecy for Security......Page 35 No Usability Testing......Page 36 #1: Put All Instructions on Menus......Page 37 #2: Use Verbose Phrasing......Page 39 #3: Use Perfectly Accurate Words......Page 40 #4: Be Explicit, Not Implicit......Page 41 #5: Put All Orders on ‘Menus’:......Page 44 #6: Provide a Master Menu, Integrating All features......Page 45 #7: Display from the General to the Specific......Page 46 #8: Always Let Users Navigate by Descriptive Values, Not Internal Codes......Page 47 #10: Put Functions Where Users Will Look for Them......Page 49 #12: Use Dynamic Communication, Not Dynamic Menus and Dialogs......Page 50 #13: Always Provide Visual Cues......Page 51 #15: Tune for Learning, Not Just Cruising Speed......Page 52 #17: Build Error Message Details Right into the Program......Page 53 Some Not-So-Easy Recommendations......Page 54 Microscope: Detailed View of Internal Data......Page 55 Trace: Detailed View of Program Commands......Page 56 Mixing Metaphors......Page 57 5. The Nine Levels of Help......Page 59 6. PC Hardware......Page 64 7. Documentation: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back......Page 70 8. Inside Computer Programs: 'Source Code'......Page 78 9. Training......Page 82 10. Support and Troubleshooting......Page 83 11. Action Summaries......Page 86 Index......Page 90